Brawl breaks out at high school graduation ceremony for students on probation
A high school graduation for more than 100 Los Angeles County teens — including nearly 30 on probation — turned violent when a huge brawl broke out.
The fight took place Thursday at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, when authorities say a community member jumped over a second-floor balcony to attack one of the graduates.
“I had just walked onto the stage when kids from an alternative education and probation school suddenly started fighting,” witness Brianna Valdez told Fox LA.
“Girls were fighting, boys were fighting. “I was really scared,” she said. “It’s like we’re here for a happy moment, and it’s been ruined by gang activity.”
The situation escalated when gunshots were reported outside the concert hall as students and families were leaving the ceremony around 5 p.m.
A huge brawl broke out at a graduation ceremony for more than a hundred high school students when an unknown person jumped from a second-floor balcony to attack one of the teens.
“We came out of the ceremony and there was a car on the other side,” Raul Valdez said
“We just saw shooting and saw the smoke and everything, and everyone just laid down on the ground.”
Another witness said he saw someone throw his mother to the ground to cover her body and tell her, “Mom, get down, they’re shooting.”
Javonte Jamison also claimed he saw someone bleeding outside.
“He looked like he just got done fighting and I could see the car coming, that they were about to do something,” he said.
“You could see the gun smoke, the shells hit the floor and they just kind of came out.”
Footage showed a number of students arguing during the graduation ceremony, which was attended by about thirty students on probation
It remains unclear what started the fight and whether there was a shooting outside
It remains unclear what the motive was for the mass brawl and whether the shooting outside the concert hall was related.
But the Los Angeles County Probation Department said all 29 graduates were already out of the room when the brawl started.
“All incarcerated youth probationers had already left the room and were placed in a secure holding area before the incident occurred,” the department said. said in a statement.
“The Special Enforcement Operations Probation Unit responded quickly, contained the incident and restored order to the venue.”
No injuries were reported and four people were arrested following the altercation.
Their identities and the charges against them have not been released.